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Islamic Movement Came to U.S. in 1920

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The Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, an orthodox universal community, was the first successful organized effort to introduce Islam in the Unit ed States and was most successful among African-Americans.

Missionaries were sent to America by the Ahmadiyya Movement to propagate Islam, the first being Mufti Muhammad Sadiq, who landed in America on Feb. 15, 1920. Muhammad Sadiq became close to the Universal Negro Improvement Association founded by Marcus Garvey and preached Islam to the Garveyites, whose members then included Elijah Muhammad and Noble Drew Ali.

Mufti Muhammad Sadiq started a monthly magazine called The Moslem Sunrise, which contained articles on Islam, contemporary issues of conscience and the names of new converts. This magazine still exists. Muhammad Sadiq attracted a substantial number of converts in his short stay in America, most notably in Detroit and Chicago between 1922 and 1923. Though the Ahmadiyya Movement progressed in America, it never obtained as large a national following as the Nation of Islam in America, basically because it wasn't preaching nationalism, but Islam.

The Ahmadiyya Movement continued to grow and spread. It has established more than 40 missions through America and is established in more than 120 countries, with more than 10 million members. ALI MURTAZA Secretary of Information Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam Holliswood, Queens, May 7, 1993

A version of this letter appears in print on May 22, 1993, on Page 1001018 of the National edition with the headline: Islamic Movement Came to U.S. in 1920. Today's Paper|Subscribe